Headache Problem?

As is typical in the medical world, headaches come in many varieties. It's very important to understand the different headache types so that you can understand how they can be correctly treated, and how to spot the symptoms. As with any headache types, if you get headaches occasionally then there are several ways to fight them; but if you find you have chronic headaches then you must get to your doctor immediately. Your headache may feel like a minor, or major, inconvenience; but your headache might also be a an indicator of further problems. Therefore if you find you have chronic headache symptoms you should see your doctor straight away. Meanwhile here are the basic headache types:

Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are the most common of the headache types; they can affect millions of people every day. Tension headaches usually come as the result of stress or other forms of outside stimulus that causes stiffness in your neck muscles and the muscles surrounding your skull. A tension headache is usually a constant pain that encircles your head and it feels a belt wrapped around your skull with someone pulling on it; it is the contraction of the muscles in your skull causing a partial loss of blood flow to the brain. Your muscles react with the pain; your brain reacts with slowed response and difficulty concentrating.

Relieving a tension headache is simple: remove the source of the tension. Try putting on some relaxing music in a quiet room out of the way and take it easy. Take a warm bath; get a massage. Really you should treat as a last resort turning to drugs to relieve a tension headache.

Migraines

Of the more severe headache types, migraines seem to be the best known. Everybody knows what a migraine headache is, even though few people actually suffer from them on a regular basis. Some people will say that the stress of the day is giving them a migraine almost as a joke. Little is known about the causes of a migraine, but what is known is that a migraine does not need stress to be triggered. The current theory is that migraines are caused by an imbalance in the blood supply that causes blood vessels around the skull to expand and contract. This causes the pain of a migraine..

A migraine is one of those headache types that should be treated by a doctor and not with over the counter medication.

Cluster Headache

Also known as the suicide headache, the cluster headache because this headache is the most painful of all headache types. It has been referred to in medical journals as the most intense pain a person could ever suffer. A cluster headache cannot be treated by over the counter medication; if you are seen by a doctor who knows what they are doing then they will treat the cluster headache as an emergency. The pain is so bad for sufferers that once the patient is hit by a cluster headache they can do nothing else but try and deal with the pain.

At the moment there are some medications that can be used to relieve cluster headaches but more research is needed.